circumvent
pronunciation
How to pronounce circumvent in British English:
UK [ˌsɜ:kəmˈvent]
How to pronounce circumvent in American English:
US [ˌsɜrkəmˈvent]
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- Verb:
- surround so as to force to give up
- beat through cleverness and wit
- avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)
Word Origin
- circumvent (v.)
- mid-15c., "to surround by hostile stratagem," from Latin circumventus, past participle of circumvenire "to get around, be around, encircle, surround," in figurative sense "to oppress, assail, cheat," from circum "around" (see circum-) + venire "to come" (see venue). Meaning "to go round" is from 1840. Related: Circumvented; circumventing.
Example
- 1. Interestingly , many parents help their children circumvent age restrictions .
- 2. Proxy servers , which might have been used to circumvent the prohibitions , were also blocked .
- 3. You want to prevent your listener from taking a defensive posture if possible . This can circumvent the conversation from spiraling downward and the inevitable breakdown of productive communication that follows .
- 4. Thailand and japan have been linked to the controversial practice which , human rights groups have warned , is designed to deliberately circumvent international laws against torture .
- 5. But chinese bureaucrats have instead been pushing a proprietary chinese standard , called td-scdma , that could circumvent royalties to western companies and enhance china 's reputation for innovation .